1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus equipped with a reading portion for reading an original and a recording portion for performing recording on a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the popularization of multifunctional apparatuses having both a reading function for reading images of originals and a recording function for recording images onto recording media has been remarkable. Since sheet materials such as paper or plastic sheets are generally used as originals and recording media, these sheet materials will be generally referred to as “sheets” in the present invention, and an apparatus that reads a sheet (original) and performs recording on a sheet (recording medium) will be referred to as a sheet processing apparatus. In commonly used recording devices, for example, a plurality of feeding portions is provided at different locations, each of which holds a plurality of stacked recording sheets and separates and feeds the recording sheets in a one-by-one manner. These feeding portions can individually hold recording media of different types or sizes. There are also recording devices equipped with a reversing portion that reverses the front and back sides of a recording medium so that recording can be performed on both sides of a recording medium. Likewise, commonly used reading devices are equipped with a feeding portion that holds a plurality of stacked original sheets and separates and feeds the original sheets in a one-by-one manner. There are also reading devices having a reversing function for reversing the front and back sides of an original.
Generally, a feeding portion can hold a plurality of stacked original sheets or recording sheets and separate and feed the sheets in a one-by-one manner. A reversing portion can convey an original or recording medium while reversing the front and back sides of the original or recording medium. In a multifunctional apparatus of related art equipped with a reading device and a recording device, a feeding portion and a reversing portion are both provided for each of the reading portion and the recording portion. This is problematic in that the entire apparatus is large in size and requires high cost. For example, although Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-164791 discloses an image comparing device configured to convey an original from a reading unit to a recording unit, this device is large is size since the reading unit and the recording unit are each equipped with a feeding unit. This device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-164791 is an image comparing device equipped with a switching mechanism for selecting whether to eject an original having undergone a reading process or to convey the original for an image forming process, but does not function as a feeding device for feeding an original and recording medium.